Tour Universale Halloween Horror Nights X with The Verge
By Brian Baraett Sophomore, Eau Gallie High The nights are getting darker earlier and the wind has chilled. It's October and that can mean only one thing: The excitement of Halloween is floating up from graveyards, down from attics and out from other spook-filled places. One of the best places in Florida to experience the excitement and fun of Halloween can be found at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights X. "Compared with what we have done in the past, this will hopefully blow everyone away," said Adrian LePeltier, one of the many creative geniuses behind Halloween Horror Nights. Halloween Horror Nights consists of five new themed haunted houses, each with its own atmosphere and decor. There s just something special about the terror in a haunted house. Matt Reilly, a senior at Melbourne High, put it this way: "It's one thing to warn around and have someone jump out at you. It's another to be trapped; it builds up the fear factor, because you don't know what's gonna happen." This year, the creative development team has pulled out all the stops with a clown theme for HHN's 10-year anniversary, said LaPeltier. "We were sitting in a meeting one day going over ideas, when one of our team, Danny Roddy, began to sketch a box," La-Peltier said. "He kept drawing and drawing until the form of a jack-in-the-box had taken place. But instead of a normal clown exploding from the top, Danny's was massive and ugly, rather threatening. And underneath it he wrote: Think your afraid of the dark now? You don't know Jack.' And that is how our . Jack was born." ? 4 J The result? The K tmviMrm'i'w , 'II': '4. 4 , 1 MS 1 I TV m ft - nWJ 1 tZM iX J I 1 ,.' 1 Brian Barnett, THE VERGE FRIENDLY HOSTS welcome you and start putting you at ease the moment you approach the gates. w ' - - team turned Universal into a land of terror in which guests are stalked by maniacal clowns, deformed children's toys, and other bi zarre sights. The leader of this band of psychotic misfits is Jack. The story goes that Jack was once a friendly clown entertainer who went a little crazy one day with a few choice instruments of death. Eventually he was caught and locked away in an asylum for Ufe; at least that was the idea. After waiting for just the right time, Jack made his escape from the confinements of his padded cell and ended up at Universal Studios, ready to re lease his aggressions on innocent guests, whom he considers pawns in a deadly game. This being my first year experiencing Halloween Horror Nights, I decided to ask people who had gone to it during previous years what to expect. For some, the experience was pretty dramatic "It was horrible. I screamed so loud, and then I Just burst into tears!" said Eau Gallie High senior Jennifer Durrand. Others found previous years' offerings better than this year's. Matt went two years ago, and then again this year. "I liked that (two years ago) better 'cause 1) the lines were shorter, 2) the shows were better, and 3) the haunted houses were more interesting," he said. He said he found the lines to be really long, a minimum hour and a half wait. Nathan Weil, a junior at Melbourne High who went both this year and last, agreed. "The first year I went it wasn't very crowded, but now the lines were about three hours," he said. My experience was different. Every line seemed to move like clockwork, probably 15- to 30-minute waits. The longest wait we had was for the "Anxiety" house, but that's probably because it's the first house most people go to. My advice is, if you're impatient, skip ahead and come back to "Anxiety" later. And I'd point out that ' j there is a plus to waiting inline Universal keeps guests amused with random acts of terror. . -- So with my best Jh r co. ; hi i TJT- j, J Courtesy Universal JACK, the star attraction at this year's clown-themed Halloween Horror Nights, will getcha if he can. friend, Eau Gallie High junior Stacy Hanson, I headed off into the twisted world that Jack controlled, not truly knowing what I had gotten myself intol The arrival Arriving at the front gates of the park is an experience in itself. The nerve-racking sounds of chains, screams and the theme from "Halloween" are pumped out to heighten your nervousness. Before you realize what is happening, a band of bloodied .. . well m leave it a secret Let's just say: If you think you're safe outside the park (to quote the advertisements), you don't knowJackl I will admit that while waiting in line for my first trip through a haunted house, my stomach was tying itself into triple knots. House 1 : Total Chaos The first house Stacy and I found ourselves in was "Total Chaos." Set up to look like a top-secret military base, this is probably the tamest house of alL But as you scramble through the darkened corridors, you find that aliens are in pursuit of you! House 2: Anxiety On the soundstage next to "Chaos" is "Anxiety." I was reluctant to try this one at first, and it took some serious persuasion from Stacy to get me to do it The idea behind the house is that your crazy host Jack, has created a 3-D video game that's gone wrong in the worst way. So of course, everyone is given a nifty pair of 3-D "Jack eyes" glasses to wear, thus preventing anyone from deciding what is fake and what is really thirsting for blood. One of the rooms in this maze features a wall of masks from the movie "Scream" that offers a surprise of its own. House 3: Monster Mania "Monster Mania" takes place on a "movie set" where a horror film was supposedly shot many years ago. However, the movie itself was never released because the footage mysteriously disappeared. This is an enjoyable "house-of-scream" and once again, it features a twist you really have to experience for yourself. My only problem was the house is situated near where the horses are kept at least I think it is. The wind had picked up considerably while Stacy and I were waiting in line, and we soon found ourselves downwind of some truly barnsy aromas. My advice to Universal is to move that haunted house to a new location. House 4: Fear House Jack's "Fear House" provided yet another scare to be notched into our belts. It was designed to look like a funhouse from hell, and that pretty much describes it! There are distorted mirrors and oddly painted walls. The only difference between this and a regular funhouse is the assortment of grotesque creatures inside who are out to get you. House 5: Dark Torment Saving the best for last we ended our tour of houses with "Dark Torment" which takes place both on a ride and in a haunted version of hell. It scared us the most, which is why we think it is the best haunted house there is! The ride takes place on Earthquake, where normally everyone lives to ride again. However, in this version, (which seemed to shake more violently than Earth- 5juake usually does) , the rider is greeted by ack. After the clown's pithy porculture-re-ference greeting, the subway car you travel in returns to the station and everyone en ters a labyrinth filled with evil demons and monsters. If you only make ittoonehouseduring your whole visit be sure not to miss "Dark Torment" Old Rides, New Tricks Both Kongfrontation and Jaws have been given Halloween treatment Kongfrontation works best Unlike the normal version in which people ride above New York on cable cars, the Halloweenized Kong ride has guests walking through the streets they normally only see from high above. It was definitely an original idea, and well-executed. The scare factor here is that the streets are overrun with monsters amid the chaos already goingonwithKingKong swatting helicopters out of the air. Jaws is a different story. Aside from a few moments in which you race by a scary fisherman, this ride didn't seem to be changed at alL If you miss it don't worry it certainly won't ruin your visit Parades and Shows And what Halloween Horror Nights would be complete without parades and shows? Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure is a humorous display in which our two bumbling heroes are facing the scariest thing of all: having their rock group turned into a boy band (the horror!). The show "Jacked Up" is like Disney's Cirque du Soleil, except the performers have all been replaced by sideshow freaks. The Festival of the Dead was the best parade I've seen in a while. Held two times every night it's your chance to watch normal toys that have been turned into nightmarish creatures dance along the streets. The best of all of these performers were the bloodied, sometimes headless Beanie babies (although I was actually hoping they'd have chopped up Pokemon and a lifeless, battered Barney but I made do). Even some who didn't seem to get the same thrill out of Halloween Horror Nights that I did say it's worth going. Matt said while he thinks it wouldn't by scary for everyone, he "would go back each year, just to see what they changed, what they made different." He added, "If you haven't been GO! It's really fun." He doesn't have to urge Stacy and me more than once. We are hooked and plan to attend every year or until some scary critter gets the better of us! The https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/179352712/ Category:Halloween Horror Nights X Category:Halloween Horror Nights article